News

MWA considers buying wells

by Tom Chillemi

In 2014, the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) asked the 14 top water-users in eastern Virginia to reduce water use, Jason Early told the Middlesex Water Authority (MWA) at its March 8 meeting.

Early, senior hydrologist with Cardno Engineering Consultants, said DEQ has made its top priority supplying water for “public” use, as opposed to agriculture or industrial uses. Some of those eastern Virginia localities are renewing permits now, and DEQ is in the process of changing regulations.

MWA consultant Ken Baybutt of Bowman Consulting said he met with the permit department of DEQ on March 1 and they had “no roadblocks” to a plan that would pump water from Rosegill to Deltaville, and supply users along the way. It will take 18 months to get a permit after the application is submitted. “Public consumption is the highest priority, and we are optimistic” the groundwater withdrawal permit will be granted, he said.

How to pay for this proposed $18 million water project is being worked on by the MWA in consultation with Baybutt and Early. The cost will be paid by water customers because the MWA is separate from the county government.

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